The Philipp Grubauer Situation
Before the season began there was a lot of speculation that the Washington Capitals were going to lose Philipp Grubauer to the Vegas Golden Knights in the expansion draft.
Despite the speculation and obvious need for a solid young goaltender, the Knights selected Nate Schmidt instead.
Then came the rumors of the Capitals dealing Grubauer to another team. I’m positive there were calls and conversations fielded by general manager Brian MacLellan but none of them must of been even close to what Grubauer is actually worth because he’s still on the Capitals roster sitting comfortably as the backup to Braden Holtby.
Many questioned why no move was made and I have an explanation for it. When the Capitals drafted Ilya Samsonov it became obvious that they were planning ahead for their future in goal.
Braden Holtby will still be the Capitals starter for years to come, but the Capitals not only wanted to take the best player available in the draft but also have some security in the event that Holtby burns out or suffers a serious injury at some point in his career.
However with Samsonov being tied to Russia for a few more years that gave the Capitals plenty of time to decide what they were going to do with Grubauer.
The situation is a bit more difficult now that MacLellan has met with Samsonov and the two came to an agreement that Ilya would come to North America next season.
